(Kitco News) - Despite Ethereum underperforming Bitcoin recently because ofthe so called "Ethereum killers," Aydin Kilic, COO of HIVE Blockchain, is stillvery bullish on Ethereum. The "Ethereum killers" are competitors like Solana,Polygon, Cardano, and others.Kilicdiscussed cryptocurrencies with David Lin, Anchor at Kitco News. HIVE Blockchain is the first publicly traded crypto minerlisted on the Toronto Venture Exchange."Ethereum is still seen as the prime conduit, well developed andthe largest smart contract blockchain. It is still within the context of DeFi,and NFT's," Kilic said. Kilic explained how a major upgrade to Ethereum called Londonearlier this year, which included the Ethereum Improvement Proposal(EIP) 1559,aimed to change the way transaction fees, or "gas fees" are estimated. "Whathappened with EIP 1559, were egregious transaction fees were actuallyattenuated, and it ironed out those fees," he said. "I looked at the 60 daysbefore and after EIP 1559, and we were still seeing a veryhealthy figure in mining economics post EIP 1559. I think there's great demandin mining for Ethereum, and EIP 1559 makes it more predictable and profitable forusers who want to use Ethereum blockchain." Ethereum and Bitcoin have moved in tandem with each other forthe past year, with some outperformance from Ethereum. "I think that the relationshipbetween the Bitcoin price and the Ethereum price both rising over a period oftime -- might be coincidental or may be driven by investor consumer sentiment,"Kilic said. "I would point out and distinguish that one must understand thefundamental economics of mining, which is contingent on the price and thedifficulty."HIVE Blockchain mines both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kilic compared thetwo cryptocurrencies in terms of mining profitability. "Ethereum mining isincredibly lucrative. It's a little bit more involved than Bitcoin mining interms of the day-to-day operation," Kilic emphasized. "Ethereum is moreprofitable than Bitcoin mining - if you look at it in terms of profit density basedon power consumption, it's almost three times more profitable now, which isremarkable."Kilic cautions investors looking to invest in cryptocurrencies toseparate mining economics from the price chart. "Bitcoin reached a peak of60,000 earlier this year. But later when there was a huge drop in difficulty,even though the Bitcoin price was not as high, mining economics recoveredsubstantially to their peaks in Q1 this year -- so it's a function of both," hesaid.In terms of investing in cryptocurrency mining companies likeHIVE Blockchain, Kilic said, "I think the investing public looks atcryptocurrency mining companies as a proxy for investing directly intocryptocurrencies." "People like to say there's economies of scale, but it's moreabout economies of efficiency when you are developing a crypto mine." Kiliccontinued. "How good is your PUE, how cheap is your power, how can you dollarcost average your op ex down, allocate capital in an intelligent way so you aregetting hash rate up online within the shortest time period for deploying thatcapital, making sure that you're not overpaying for your ASICs or your GPU's."Formore on Kilic's view on cryptocurrencies, watch the full video above. Follow David Lin on Twitter @davidlin_TV.By Kitco News For Kitco NewsFollow @kitconewsnownewsfeedback@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.